It is customary, in December, for columnists to write retrospective pieces. Rather than looking back over the last year, however, I thought I would take the centenary anniversary of the Irish state this month to look instead a little further back. A summary of developments in the Irish economy – or even just its housing system – is of course well beyond the scope of two or three thousand words, at least in any meaningful depth. The history of a period – whether economic, social or other – can be studied for its own merits, the simple virtue of better…